Princess Next Door

“Why do you keep thinking I’m going to chicken out? I want a tattoo.”

Following Ray into the room, Princess was adamant that he join her.

She got comfortable on the chair, moving so that she was on her side, and she held his hand as Ray prepared the area.

“It feels so weird being here,” she said.

“Why?”

“I never thought I’d get a tattoo. The rebel inside me is totally winning. Do I look hot right now?” she asked.

He chuckled and kissed her lips.

“No sexy time in my office. I have to keep everything clean.”

“Sorry, Ray,” she said.

“I’ll be good and keep my hands all to myself.”

He took her hand, which she squeezed a little tighter when Ray began to work. Throughout the work, she’d close her eyes, and he watched her as the ink marked her skin. Neither of them spoke, leaving Ray to work without any interruptions.

Staring at her hand, he kept their fingers locked together. Her fingers were much smaller and paler than his. In his mind, he saw their hands getting older, and still, he kept on holding them, keeping her against him, binding her to him for the rest of his life.

He’d never really known what love was.

His family had disowned him, and the women over the years just wanted to screw him. Nothing and no one besides his friends had stood out to him.

Princess was the only exception to that.

They were the complete opposites, and yet, they matched somehow. She was his fire, his passion, his inspiration. He knew he gave her strength, and helped her to live her life rather than just existing.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You seemed to disappear on me there.”

He waved a hand. “Just thinking about a song.”

“You need to call your friends.”

“I will.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You can call them. Please, Zane. You know you want to.”

Ray nodded at him, and he left the room, heading outside. Pulling out his cell phone he saw several missed calls from the guys.

He dialed Silas’s number, waiting for his friend to answer.

Zane didn’t have to wait long.

“Man, we’ve been trying to call you all night.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I … I was with Princess, and we decided to get away for a few days.”

“We’re worried about you. We’ve never seen you this devoted to one woman, and it’s you we’re thinking about. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I get it.” He turned so that he stared at the wall. “You’re right. I do love her. She means more to me than anything else I can remember.” Just saying the words gave him a sense of peace. “I shouldn’t have attacked you like that though, Silas. I shouldn’t have attacked you at all. I know you guys are worried, and you’re going to have my back, but I can’t give her up. I won’t.”

“Zane?”

“She may not want me forever, and that’s fine. I know she’ll be my girl forever. Stepping out when we had to play was wrong. I’ll handle everything so that we play this Friday, okay? We’ll meet up in a few days.”

“You don’t want us to come out to you?”

“No.” He wanted a couple of days with just him and Princess.

Saying his goodbyes, he called his boss next, and lied about not being able to do the show. He arranged everything so that on Friday the guys would be playing again. When he got back inside, a great deal of her ink was completed.

She smiled at him, holding her hand out, which he took. “Did you resolve everything?”

“As much as I could over the phone.” She didn’t ask him anything more, and within an hour, Ray was done. He covered the ink and gave her some ointment, along with a list of instructions on what to do over the next few days.

He paid for her tattoo and they left the parlor, heading toward the hotel room that they’d booked. They stopped for some food before heading inside. Sitting on the floor, he opened up several boxes of takeout food, mostly burgers and fries.

“I’m not going to go back to my family,” she said, making him look at her.

“What?”

“I know your friends are worried, and they think I’m going through this little rebellion that will lead me back home, but it’s not like that. I’m not sad or angry with them for being worried and carrying about you. I care about you, Zane. I’ve always been a little different from my parents, which is why my grandparents set me up in their will and allowed me to live my own life. They saw something different inside me. I’m not going to go back to them.”

“They’re your family, Princess.”

“So? I like to think that family can be the ones we choose to have, not the ones we’re forced to have.” She took his hand. “I love spending time with you, being with you. Nothing is ever going to change that.”